Sunday, June 17, 2012

Making and Using Coconut or Water Kefir

Candida is a common occurrence amongst
women, men and children; even babies. Why this is will be the subject of
another blog, suffice to say Kefir as a probiotic, can be of help.

Those if you who are familiar with Donna
Gates and The Ecology Diet will know this.

Kefir is fast becoming a new buzz drink. I should say ‘fizzy’ drink (as we call
soda in New Zealand) as it has a light but discernible, fizz.

Recently I’m hearing how Big Brother wants
to intervene (again) in our lives and give one more job to the Nanny State
Boffins: restricting access to or finding ways to ‘encourage’ drinkers to drink
less fizz/soda.

Apparently this is going to help the
obesity epidemic.

Yep, I can really see the soda companies
liking that. Oh, wait. They’ve probably got their version of Kefir in the lab
already. Have to supply the up and coming gap, won’t they?

Well, they can’t patent Kefir grains.

Kefir is a fermented drink along the lines of yoghurt, sauerkraut, kimchee, sour
dough bread and a cousin of anything else that ferments including the most
common one of all, alcohol.

Kefir is genuinely good for you, as it is a
probiotic and will gently but surely aid your gut in the ratio of bad v good
bacteria.

How to get Kefir: the first and easiest is
to buy it (thank you, Captain Obvious).
If you’re in New Zealand you can go straight to www.thekefircompany.co.nz and tell
them I sent you. Anita and her husband Terry
make coconut Kefir by hand every Friday.

You could make it yourself but you have to
be a really, really committed DIY Freak to do this. It is quite a mission to
source a regular supply of drinking coconuts and get the ‘blimmin’ things open.
If you like an adventure and the idea of filling your rubbish bin with semi-successfully
opened coconuts, or even the unopened ones you gave up
on, then go right ahead. Trust me. It’s much easier to get Anita’s. She
delivers anywhere in New Zealand.

Water Kefir, on the other hand is quite easy;
fiddly but easy. First, get yourself some water Kefir grains and follow the
instructions that come with them. In New Zealand try www.waterkefir.co.nz. For overseas readers, use your search engine
to find a more local supplier or ask my kiwi friend to send you hers. She also supplied me with Caspian Sea
Yoghurt Starter that I make with raw milk. I am enjoying this on my muesli each
morning. It’s lovely over a bowl of chopped fruit, too.

The grains increase in number each time you
make Kefir. At the moment I have three jars brewing on my kitchen bench top. There is a jar of ‘extras’ in the fridge at the moment, in sugar water waiting
to find a new home or another jar on my ‘bench/counter.

I am using Kefir water in my Smoothies (a
lovely tingle in the ‘background’) and in the juice I get with our Green Star.
The children and DH are enjoying the fizzy effect. Honestly, who would’ve
thought you could make a healthy fizzy drink?? Yay!!!

You can drink it straight. Drunk neat it
reminds me of weak ginger beer. Add some ginger juice from the Juicer and hey
presto, Ginger Beer! Well, kind of.

You can also buy kefir powder from some
health shops but these do not last indefinitely as the grains do. You will get
between four and ten re-ferments before it becomes too weak to use again.

An eBook from my own fair hand. "A Sugar Free Christmas; Raw Recipes and Tips" for Guiding your Family Through a Sugar-Free Chri...

Profile

In January 2009, my eldest daughter suggested I support her on a two week Raw Diet as a detox. I am still high Raw. I love the way I feel - sort of fresh and cool. My skin has improved, my nails are stronger and I've lost weight. It was weight loss the easy way. No points to count, no food to weigh and I was never hungry. Weight loss was not my goal but it became a pleasant result.

We live in New Zealand (think: Lord of the Rings), a truly beautiful country that I love very much.